The New Assignment
by ninz
Summary: COMPLETE now: It's Danny's first day with MPU and Vivian isn't too happy about him joining the team. Will she change her mind? Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

_Author's notes:_ Again; these characters do not belong to me. Etc. etc.

This is – like my first story – about Viv and Danny again. Please review if you liked it and there's a point in continuing…

The New Assignment

A very forceful knock on the door made Jack look up from his desk. "Yeah?"

The door opened a little and Vivian stuck her head in. "Jack, you got a minute?"

"Yes. Come on in. I was going to talk to anyway."

Vivian entered the office and gently closed the door behind her.

"Take a seat", Jack offered her.

She did so and started to speak right away: "Jack, I need to talk to you about Danny Taylor."

"Oh, yeah right. What about him?" He was a little amused but careful not to show it.

"Jack, you gotta be kidding."

"What are talking about?"

"You cannot hire him!" Vivian just couldn't believe what she was doing. She usually respected all of her boss' decisions but this time he really had gone too far.

"I already have. So what?"

"He's way too young. Too inexperienced. Not qualified for this kind of work."

"What makes you think that?" Jack knew that normally Vivian was quite right in her judgement on people, he used to always listen to her. But this time he had decided to act against her advice for once. But he was still interested in her opinion. Although she was relatively young as well, he respected her a lot – much more than many other agents, who were a lot older. In fact, that was one of the reasons why he'd decided to give the indeed very young Agent Taylor a chance. Age was important, but to him it didn't mean everything.

"He's still half a child. I mean how old he? Twenty-four, twenty-five?"

"Twenty-five."

"Jack, you know how nasty the job can get. I don't think he is ready for it. And also; I've heard rumours."

"Rumours?"

"Yes. That he's had a bit of a difficult past… he acts a lot on emotion… In fact I've done some research: At the academy he was known as the worst hot-head of his year and having trouble controlling himself."

Jack didn't say a word. He just looked at Vivian with raised eyebrows waiting for her to continue.

"Jack, we need someone who's more grown-up. Steady. Not a kid like him!"

"Well, yeah, he might need someone to look after him for a bit and show him how this works until he's grown-up enough…"

Finally Jack amusement was beginning to show. Vivian sighed. She had a bad feeling about what was going to come next. "You don't mean…?"

Jack interrupted her: "And coincidently you are exactly the right person to do that, Viv."

There it was. The sentence she'd dreaded. For a moment she didn't know what to say, but then… "No, Jack. Don't do that to me, please. I'm no babysitter."

"Viv, you are exactly the person", Jack repeated. He seemed quite proud of his brilliant idea. "Patient and calm, intelligent, impressing… I need somebody he's gonna respect from the very first moment."

"But not me. You hired him, he's your problem." Realising what she'd just said Vivian apologised: "Sorry, but really, shouldn't you be the one to teach him? I mean, he should be respecting you even more than me."

"Are you trying to misbehave on purpose to make me rethink this?" Jack asked calmly. "Well, actually you aren't wrong about this but the thing is I don't have time for that. And I'm your supervisor, I tell you what to do."

"Yes, you are." Viv sighed again. "So I think I'll have to do as I'm told…"

Jack watched as she left his office muttering under her breath. It sounded like "…as if I had time for babysitting…" He smiled to himself and turned his attention back to the report he was writing. He had a good feeling about this after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Doing her best to hide her bad mood Vivian walked on to her desk. She wasn't sure what to make of this situation, Jack having given her this assignment… was he punishing her for something or should she take it as prove of his trust in her abilities?

"Hey!" a voice interrupted her thoughts.

She looked up into the face of Agent Andrew Banks, the fourth member of Jack's team. "Oh, good morning, Andy…" she greeted him still a bit absently which make him grin.

"Did you just talk to Jack?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, spoke to him first thing this morning." She forced a smile.

"Well, then I take it you haven't met pretty-boy over there, yet?" Banks said pointing over to the conference table where, usually, the team was sitting around the table, discussing options and possibilities when they were on a case. Right now there was only one person there; and he wasn't sitting he was standing behind a chair, holding onto it as if he was feeling uncomfortable; a young man in his early to mid twenties, and after having seen his picture in his file, Vivian had no doubt that this was Agent Taylor.

She sighed deeply before walking over to greet him, friendly as she always did. "Morning. Agent Taylor, I assume? My name is Vivian Johnson, and we're working together from now on."

"Yes, I know. Nice to meet you."

As an FBI-Agent Vivian had developed a habit of running a close eye over everybody she met and so she did as they shook hands. Agent Taylor was tall, very slender and with his boyish features and his dark hair all ruffled up he looked even younger than his twenty-five years. Well, he would have – if it hadn't been for his eyes. There was something about them, something very serious and – she couldn't help herself – something sad as well. But she couldn't say for sure what it was.

Well, at least he's got manners, Vivian thought to herself before speaking again: "Would you please sit down. Since we're not on an active case at the moment we've got the time to go through some rules, unwritten rules I mean. Rules that Agent Malone and I would appreciate you sticking to."

When they sat down at the conference table Vivian noticed that the young agent didn't seem the least bit uncomfortable anymore, instead he was obviously very eager to start on his new job. But he would have to be patient. She felt a little sorry for him; she knew that to maintain patience before their first case was always one the most difficult things for every new agent. Danny Taylor was no exception. He didn't look happy at all but did as he'd been told.

"First of all I'd like you to know that there will be no playing the hero if you want to stay part of this team; no putting yourself in any unnecessary danger, no trying to deal with any problems or solve any case on your own; if you got any information you always have to share it with the rest of the team at once. No secrets and no competing with other agents, is that understood?"

The young man just nodded and Vivian went on: "Well, you might think all this does not need to be mentioned but you wouldn't believe how many young agents there are, who are just eager to impress and therefore are totally unable of working as a part of a team."

"I know how this works" Agent Taylor replied calmly.

"We'll see." Although at the moment he seemed pretty reasonable, Viv had her doubts. "Oh, and one more thing: our victims depend on you being totally healthy, fit and concentrated at work; so no matter how wrapped up in a case you are and how little time there seems to be; you always have to eat and sleep regularly, if you can manage it."

"That's logical isn't it?"

Vivian shook her head. "It isn't. Just wait and see." She leaned back on her chair and grinned. "Well, I'm done. That was it."

"Ok, I think I got everything." He gave her a questioning look. "And now?"

"Now?" Vivian grin grew even bigger as she told him: "Now you're going to the things everybody has to do on their first day, no matter at what job."

"And that would be?"

"First you're going to make coffee and then you're going to go and make some copies for me…"

She could see the disappointment in his eyes but didn't feel sorry. It amused her knowing that soon enough he would be thankful for these quiet days at the office.

She watched as Agent Taylor was just about to leave for the coffee when Jack interrupted their plans rushing out of his office: "Everybody; we got a case…"


	3. Chapter 3

„Name is Laura McFadden, she's fifteen years old, went to bed yesterday, like every other night but wasn't at home in the morning. Her mother called the school up and her best friend's parents but nobody has seen her since she's told her mother good night yesterday", Jack informed his team before he gave everybody their assignments: "Andy, you and I are going to speak to her family and take a closer look at her home. I don't think her disappearance has something to do with that but you can never know."

Agent Andy Banks nodded and got ready to go.

Jack turned to Vivian. "Viv, I want you to go and speak to the friend, Sylvie Thomas, and her parents. You're taking Agent Taylor with you. Later I want you two to go to her school; talk to teachers and other students. Find out as much as you can about Laura. Her mum says she's had the feeling that her daughter hasn't been happy lately, and we need to know why."

"Probably rejected love. And that made her run away to be alone and sulk", Agent Taylor suggested in a pitiless voice as he looked at the picture on the board. It showed a smiling teenage girl, and even though there was certainly something sympathetic about her, she couldn't at all be described as cute or pretty; round face that implied she was overweighed, spots and huge glasses.

"We don't know that, yet", Vivian said. But she had to admit; Laura McFadden looked the kind of girl to do as the young agent presumed. "We hardly know anything about her, so don't judge her just now."

"I'm sorry, it's just that I thought, we have to come up with any possible suggestion. And this is more than possible I'd say", the young man defended himself half-heartedly, shrugging.

"Well, there could still be a lot of other explanations for her disappearance", Viv said as she grabbed her coat. "And we won't know unless we start finding out. Let's go now."

Five minutes later they sat in the car. Agent Taylor was driving while Vivian sat in the passenger seat watching him. He looked concentrated. Not a word was said for another five minutes or so, until finally Vivian started to speak: "You really think that kid ran away?"

"I don't know. But I can't imagine her really being in trouble. I mean, look at her; wealthy family, happy home, caring mother… Who should have gotten her into trouble?"

Vivian smiled, but there was some bitterness in her smile. "Obviously you've still got a lot to learn. There can be a hundred of possibilities why she could be in trouble. Things aren't always like they seem at first sight you know. Just because you grow up as a kid whose parents own money doesn't mean you've always got it easy. I agree with you about the possibility of rejected teenage love, though."

"Well, my guess is that she'll turn up again today, maybe by the afternoon", Taylor said with a shrug.

Vivian looked at him with knitted eyebrows. "You don't seem to feel a lot of pity for this girl, do you?"

"No. She's got a caring family who sitting at home now, worrying themselves to death while she's probably somewhere hiding from the world that's been oh-so-mean to her. I don't think that's right."

"She's probably got a lot of problems. I mean every teenager usually has got her or his problems but she… well, maybe the other students at school were giving her a hard time. And she had to go there every day to be laughed at by all the pretty girls…"

"So you're going to tell me that makes it ok she's got everybody so worried? I tell you what, in my opinion it's her own fault if she gets laughed at. Usually there are ways of working on one's appearance and if you don't want to you've gotta live with other people's comments. It normally doesn't kill you."

"And you know that because you've had the same problems before?" Vivian asked. Although she tried she wasn't able to ban the sarcasm from her voice.

The younger agent didn't answer at once. They kept on driving on silence before they had to stop for traffic lights. After hitting the breaks Agent Taylor turned to give Viv his full attention. "I've made my own experiences", he said, obviously unwilling to explain them further. "And by the way, you know, things such as good looks don't mean you've always got it easy either."

After that the conversation was over and Vivian knew better than to try and start any further discussions with Agent Taylor right now…


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for all the reviews; they keep me going! It's so nice to see somebody appreciates all the work! Please keep them coming!

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They arrived at the Thomas' house which was in a nice suburban area. Everything seemed peaceful and quiet. Vivian watched curiously as Agent Taylor took a look around and sighed after he got out of the car. They walked up the path the lead through the garden up to the house and Vivian rang the doorbell.

It was only half minute before the door was opened by a teenage girl who greeted the two agents with a somewhat relieved smile.

There was a long silence as Agent Taylor looked at Viv obviously waiting for her to say something. But she remained silent, and the silence was beginning to get uncomfortable but Vivian didn't mind. She could tell that the young agent was a bit nervous; he obviously really had very little experience working in the field. She gave him an encouraging smile. And silently cursed Jack.

Finally Agent Taylor spoke: "We're… with the FBI. Are you Sylvie Thomas?"

"Yes", the girl answered.

Vivian showed her her badge and introduced herself. "My name is Vivian Johnson, this is Agent Taylor. We need to speak to you about your friend Laura McFadden. She's missing as you know."

"Yes, and I'm happy you're here. We're all worried about Laura."

"Why? D'you think she's in trouble?"

The girl shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen her much lately."

"I thought you were her best friend", Agent Taylor remarked.

"Yes. Well… at least … I used to be…"

"Sylvie, would you mind if we come inside and talk there. We would like to speak to you and your parents if that's possible."

"Yeah, sure. Well, my Dad's not home yet, but my Mum is in the living-room."

Five minutes they're we all sitting in a comfortable living-room, Sylvie and her mother sitting on the couch while two agents had taken a seat opposite them on old fashioned arm-chairs. The air was a bit tense but Vivian was used to this. Meanwhile Danny Taylor looked as uncomfortable as Sylvie and her mother.

"When was the last time you saw your friend Laura?" Vivian started questioning in her usual calm way.

Sylvie shrugged. "I think that must have been a while ago. I've been neglecting her for a while I'm afraid…"

"Why?"

"I've just got together with my first boyfriend, four weeks ago. We've spent most of our time together since then. For a while I kept inviting Laurie along but she didn't wanna come. So I left her to herself."

"Well, it's not a surprise she didn't wanna come, is it?" Vivian asked, softly.

"No, but what was I supposed to do?"

"What did you do?" Agent Taylor suddenly got involved in the conversation. It was the first time he spoke since they'd gone into the house. "I mean, you just invited her along with you and your boyfriend and when she didn't wanna come you just decided to ignore her?"

Mrs Thomas looked as if she wanted to say something, but her daughter was quicker. "Not at first. But she kept acting strange. As if she had a secret. And we used to have no secrets in our friendship. But there was definitely something she didn't wanna tell me. And, well, I guess, I was somewhat pissed off. So I started to ignore her, yes."

"Sylvie, do you think that this secret she had could have had anything to do with a boy she was in love with, maybe?" Vivian asked.

The girl shrugged.

"D'you have any idea at all, what it could have been?"

"Well…", finally Sylvie started to speak hesitantly. "…I think she could have met someone on the internet…"

"What makes you think that?"

"The other day when I went over to hers she was at the computer and when I entered the room she shut down the program at once. But I could see she was writing an email."

"That email could have been addressed to anyone…", her mother said.

"No, she doesn't usually write emails. Not that I know of at least. She's only got the computer to do researches on the internet for school homework."

"Ok, thank you Sylvie." It was obvious that the girl didn't know much more of any importance so Vivian ended the conversation with a reassuring smile. "You've helped us a lot. I'm sure we'll soon have her back."

"I sure hope so. I feel really bad about how I've treated her. Especially thinking that she could have been in trouble and I didn't know it."

"You done your best today", Viv said before the two agents left.

Back in the car – this time Vivian was driving – she turned to her new co-worker and remarked: "Well, seems as though not everything is quite the way it seems to be. This girl certainly had some secrets."


	5. Chapter 5

The air was thick in the car; the heat-wave that had been holding on over the last two weeks still had the city in its grip, and of course; the air condition was broken. Vivian could feel her skirt stick to her legs, as they drove on towards Laura McFadden's school. From the corner of her eye she could see her young co-worker was shifting uneasily in the passenger seat as well.

But the streets were busy as always, and it was impossible to open the windows unless they wanted the smell of dozens of cars inside. It was almost noon, and Vivian decided that after they'd been to the school she would have to get herself some lunch. Only she couldn't decide what to have. Usually she would have voted for something fatty but it was too hot for that.

"You took the wrong turn", a voice suddenly brought her attention back to the street. What was she thinking; a teen-age girl was missing and she was trying to decide what to have for lunch?

"So, do we have to interview everybody who knew her?" Agent Taylor asked.

"Well, yes, of course."

"That's probably gonna take forever."

"Well, let's see if somebody can give us any new leads. Most of the other students probably won't know too much about her. – Maybe we'll find out if she was in love with somebody", Viv added after a short pause.

Five minutes later they arrived. Quickly they found out that they'd already been expected. The moment they entered the school-building a man came almost running towards them. "Hi. Are you the FBI-agents?"

"In fact we are", Vivian answered and introduced them both.

"My name is James Bradley, I'm Laura's math teacher. The whole class wants to help finding her. At least everybody hopes that they can help."

"Yeah sure, thanks", Agent Taylor said, and Vivian noticed his voice was sounding almost sarcastic.

Mr Bradley led the two agents down the hallway towards the class-room. Vivian curiously watched as Agent Taylor frowned looking somewhat disgusted as he took a closer look around the building. It was obvious that this was an expensive private school. Vivian doubted he'd seen the inside of such a school before – but still she would have to talk to him about the behaviour; even if he didn't like it, he just couldn't let it show like that!

"Here we are." Mr Bradley opened the door for them.

Vivian suppressed a deep sigh as she looked at the other students; all looking like spoiled, arrogant kids. "Ok, let's get started. Agent Taylor, I want you to speak to all of Laura's teachers, while I'll see what I can find out here, ok?"

"Sure."

One very unpleasant half an hour later Vivian was about to interview two more students, hoping they'd be able to help her more than the rest of the kids. None of them had been able to tell her anything much about Laura so far. The boy who was next was a tall good-looking kid by the name of Stuart Brown. He turned up his nose the very moment Vivian mentioned Laura's name.

"So, I take it you didn't like her?"

A somewhat amused grin appeared on the boy's face. "Well, she liked me I can tell you that much."

"You think she had a crush on you or something?"

"Yeah, she was definitely in love with me…"

"So what did you do?" Vivian asked.

"What d'you mean?"

"What did you do about it?"

Stuart shrugged. "Well nothing, of course. Nothing unusual at least. I sometimes make fun of her during lessons. I know that's not nice – you don't have to tell me – but you don't think I have anything to do with her disappearance, do you?"

"Well, if you kept making bad jokes and hurting her, there's a possibility her disappearance has something to do with that", Vivian stated seriously. "Though maybe you can't charged with anything, I still hope, you're proud of yourself", she then added her voice sounding not just ironic but also somewhat strict.

The boy shrugged again, defensively. "I told you I know it's not nice. But maybe she'd be happier, if she didn't have to come back here. She never fit in anyways…"

"Yeah, I guess." Shaking her head Vivian sent Stuart away to interview the last kid in the class when the class-room door opened and Agent Taylor entered looking even more annoyed then before.

He listened as Vivian spoke to Stuart's friend Richard Meyer but didn't find out anything new. As soon as they were alone again the younger agent said: "I got a call from Agent Malone. He said we should get back to the office as soon as we're done here."

"Which would be right now." Viv pulled her mobile out of her pocket. "I'm gonna call Jack and have him order some lunch for me. What about you?"

"Call Jack?" Taylor looked confused, obviously not knowing who she was talking about.

"Agent Malone." Vivian grinned. "The big boss." Was she just imagining it or did the younger agent blush slightly with embarrassment? "So, d'you want anything?"

"No thanks." But she could see from his face that he had been considering it.


	6. Chapter 6

Well as you may have noticed over the last few days I've been in the perfect mood for writing… That's 'cos I have to make up for the last weeks when I've been too busy with my studies (writing fanfics is much more fun anyways …) and also 'cos there's no new episodes on TV at the moment.

Thanks for the reviews! I always love to get other's opinion on my work.

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While she was waiting for Agent Taylor who'd excused himself to go and use the bathroom Viv called up her boss. "Hey."

"Hey."

"We're on our way back. Could you please call up that Italian restaurant we were last week after work and order us some pasta. I'm starving!"

"Sure thing, but you won't have much time for eating. I think we may have a lead. We've just not been able to make much of it, yet. Shall I get lunch for both of you?"

"Yes", Vivian said without thinking. "See you at the office." She hung up and turned to go.

Not much later Agent Taylor caught up with her. They hurried back to the car, and again Vivian was driving.

"Jack says we may have a lead", she informed her young co-worker as they sat in the car. Then she remembered: "Oh, I forgot. I meant Agent Malone – so you understand as well…."

A big grin appeared on the younger agents face. "You think it's funny, don't you?"

"A bit maybe…" She smiled at him. She hadn't really realised how handsome he was. Not that for her he was really interesting in _that_ way but he was definitely nice to look at!

The sun was still shining mercilessly onto the defenceless city. It was just after 2 p.m. and if anything it had even got hotter during the time they'd spent in that school. Viv could feel little pearls of sweat form on her forehead and prayed they'd be in the office quickly without getting stuck in traffic.

Turning her head she saw that Agent Taylor had leaned his head against the back of the car seat and had closed his eyes. He looked a little exhausted and she decided to ask if he was ok.

"I'm fine. Just a moment of dizziness. Must be the heat…" he tried to assure her, rubbing his eyes and running a hand over his face.

"Or maybe you're hungry? Remember what I told you this morning…"

Now he grinned again. "Could be. To be honest I had to skip breakfast this morning 'cos I was so nervous about my first day… Guess, I should have said yes before – when you asked me about lunch."

"Don't worry. I've ordered for you, too. I don't know what they're getting us, hope you'll like it."

"I'm not picky… I was just worried about what Agent Malone might think. It's my first day and I go asking the boss to order me some lunch…"

"You don't understand, yet, do you?"

"Understand what?"

"That we're a team. Jack may be the boss, officially. But inside the team he's just one of us. A friend. A colleague. You'll have to work closely with all of us, and you'll have to trust us…" She hesitated for a few moments. "That's what it's about, Danny."


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everybody, sorry for the delay. I have to study a little more lately for some upcoming exams in July and also it's the soccer world championship in Germany right now and I can hardly keep myself away from the TV… but hopefully I won't have to let you wait so long next time…;-)

Enjoy…

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Vivian and Danny reached the office just in time to watch Agent Andy Banks leave again, for the girl's family again, as Jack explained to them while the three of them sat down at the conference table.

"Oh, and there's you're food. I figured something not too spicy and not to fatty with lots of vegetables would be the best on a day like this…"

Vivian grinned. "Jack, you're the best. Sometimes at least…" She noticed that Jack – or somebody else – had also fetched two forks for them already and all they needed to do was to sit down and tug in. Still – the case wasn't to be forgotten: "What's the lead?"

Jack held up a little black notebook, seemingly belonging to the victim (if she was indeed a victim…), and after that he opened it and handed it to Vivian. "There. See that note? 'Meet Fagin, Sunday eight p.m.'. That would have been yesterday. Unfortunately we couldn't find out who this Fagin is."

"Hm…" Vivian passed the book on to Danny.

"What did you two find out?"

"Well, according to one of the boys at school she was indeed in love with him. But I don't think he's got anything to do with her disappearance. In fact he would probably never have noticed her gone at all."

Jack nodded and looked at Danny for his share of new information.

"Teachers all said she was a nice girl. Didn't really fit into that school, though. The math teacher told me she was probably going there because of her mother. Seems to be quite the opposite of her daughter he said."

"You bet", Jack mumbled making Vivian curious.

"What's that mean?"

"Horrible woman", Jack explained. "Never seen somebody as superficial as her. Wouldn't be surprised if the daughter just ran away."

"Because of her mother?" Danny asked doubtfully. "Even if she's maybe a bit superficial, she probably loves her daughter if she wants us to find her – which she does."

"Well, you haven't met her."

Pushing her now empty plate towards the middle of the table Vivian asked for her next assignment. She wasn't happy to hear it though: "I want you two to go back to that school. We need to find out who this Fagin is."

Vivian sighed, but watch in silent amusement as Danny Taylor rolled his eyes looking even more annoyed than she felt.

Jack noticed it too. "Anything wrong, Agent Taylor?"

The young agent blushed a bit, feeling caught. "No… it's just that… well, if you want to meet some really superficial people you'll have to go to that school…"

"Nah… I leave that to you two, as you seem to enjoy so much", Jack said with an evil grin. "Maybe you should finish your lunch, though, to gather strength for the next few hours. You might need it." And off he went leaving Vivian and Danny alone at the table.

Viv was the first to get up. "So… let's get going…" She turned to leave and Danny followed her with little enthusiasm.

One hour later they weren't much further. Nobody they'd asked had ever seen or heard of a person could Fagin, not even as a nickname. They'd phoned Jack and Andy to see if they'd found out anything important, but they hadn't.

Finally there was just one more chance. They were in the principal's office along with two of Laura's teachers.

"Do the students have access to computers at school, as well?"

"Of course", the principal, an impressing man with a huge white moustache and piercing blue eyes, said at once. "Each of them has their own user name and password to access their own working account."

"We need access to Laura's account. Can they send emails as well?"

"Yes, of course."

Vivian was pleased. That could be a chance. Jack had already checked Laura's home computer but maybe she'd held contact to somebody she didn't want her mother or anybody in her family to know about.

Only minutes later she and Agent Taylor were led into a big room where there were numerous computers obviously the ones for the student to use. The teacher who'd taken them there quickly looked up Laura McFadden's user name and password and gave the information to the agents.

"Thanks", Vivian said and as the man wouldn't leave she added: "We'll call you if we need anything…"

The man left and Vivan noticed that Danny had watched the scene with a grin.

"So, let's see… who did she write emails to?"

No Fagin. None at all. Feeling slightly frustrated now but being careful not to let it show Vivian finally slumped down on a chair shaking her head. "I don't think this Fagin exists. And if, he – or she – won't help us as it seems."

Danny didn't answer. He was still busy staring at the computer screen with obvious concentration. Vivian watched him for a while but gave it up as it seemed worthless. She was about to get up and leave when the younger agent suddenly gathered her attention: "Agent Johnson…"

She wanted to tell him to call her Vivian but before she even got the chance to open her mouth he spoke again: "Have you seen this? It's an website she's been on: 'for-all-girls-in-need. Fagin!"


	8. Chapter 8

Here we are, finally… Thank God! I've been having such a writer's blockade concerning this story… but here's another chapter, containing a little surprise as well!

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All four members of the FBI missing persons unit were sitting around their conference table, discussing the case. A closer look to the F-A-G-I-N-website had discovered that it was hosted by somebody who called himself 'The Helping' and most visitors to the site were teenage girls (and a few boys as well) who were insecure and discontent with themselves and their looks, their whole lives actually. They all asked for advice and obviously, a while after they'd got in contact with 'The Helping', he (or she) set up a date with them – from which they might not all have returned.

"This would fit Laura", Jack said giving his new agent his best well-done-look and then turning his gaze to Vivian, waggling his eyebrows as nobody except her was looking in his direction. He mouthed the word: 'See?' and Vivian rolled her eyes.

"So what's gonna be the next step?" Andy Banks asked. "I mean, we gotta catch this guy, and quick! He might have Laura!"

"As far as I know NYPD's after him, too", Danny Taylor said now. "And they've already set up a date with him and a decoy. The whole thing's gonna be tonight."

"Did you tell them we'll have to take part in it?" Jack asked looking at him even more content with the young man now.

"No…" Danny blushed slightly. "It's kinda… not official information…"

Now Jack grinned, amused, watching as Vivian rolled her eyes again. The kid was just like him; he liked it. Maybe a little too much like him though, that was why he'd asked Vivian to keep an eye on the young agent instead of doing it himself. So he had someone more reasonable at his side than Jack.

"So, who's your secret source then?" Jack wanted to know.

The kid was obviously feeling a bit uncomfortable, especially as he found himself in the centre of everybody's attention; three pairs of eyes staring at him, waiting. None of the other agents seemed willing to take pity on him.

"Well, my… um… my girlfriend. She works with the NYPD and she's gonna be the decoy in this… I… uh… called her up after finding out about the website."

"And she told you they were after this guy? Are you sure it's the same guy?"

"Positively!" Taylor confirmed, his voice raised slightly; now sounding annoyed rather than nervous. "I told her about that website and asked her if she'd heard about it before, and she says, yes, they've been after the guy for a while. How can there be any misunderstanding?"

"Ok, ok, calm down", Jack said quickly knowing fully well the behaviour the younger man had just showed him hadn't been appropriate, but for some reason he wasn't angry. Another reason why had chosen Vivian to be his mentor – it seemed as though he was unable to be angry with Danny Taylor – but he couldn't let the kid think he could behave as he wanted to.

Jack thought for a moment than he began to speak again: "Ok, here's what we do: we get in contact with the NYPD and tell the detective who's in charge, we want to participate in their actions concerning this Fagin-guy. Vivian, I want you to do that. And since this is our only lead at the moment, I want you all to concentrate on that only."

Ten minutes later Jack was in his office when Viv knocked on the door.

"Come on in!"

"Jack, I just got off the phone with Detective O'Reilly who's gonna be in charge of the operation tonight. Uh… he asked us if we could come to his office so we could discuss the details. He said, he thought it would be just a matter of time until we'd get in contact with them about that guy."

Jack nodded. "Clever man." He couldn't keep the sarcasm out of his voice – Jack wasn't a big fan of the NYPD. "Well, let's get going, then. You tell Agent Taylor and…"

"Um… Jack", Vivian interrupted him.

"Yeah?"

"I thought just the two of us were going…"

Jack shook his head. "No, Agent Taylor's coming too. The kid needs to learn, Viv!"

"I know, but his girlfriend's the decoy, and… well, you've seen what he's like; can't always control his emotions. He may do something stupid."

"He won't. Trust me, Viv. What do you know about the decoy, anyway?" Jack asked.

Vivian sighed before answering: "Her name's Samantha Spade. She's twenty-two. A rookie. But they needed someone who could look helpless enough to be credible, and obviously she does. More than that I don't know."

"That's fine. We're probably going to meet her soon anyway." Jack got up from behind his desk and went to grad his coat. "Come, Viv, go tell Agent Taylor to get ready and we'll meet at the reception in five minutes." Vivian was about to leave when Jack added: "I got the feeling that this is going to be an interesting evening!"


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks to everybody who's reviewed! This is encouraging! (Just needed to say that again)

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

They drove in separate cars, but Vivian found herself once more paired up with Danny. There was an uncomfortable silence between them until Danny finally said: "Um… Agent Johnson…"

"It's Vivian."

"Ok, well, Vivian. I… uh… I think I'll have to take back some of the things I said this morning when we were first assigned to this case. I've had a pretty low opinion of our victim and I no longer think it was justified."

"That's right, it wasn't", Viv confirmed keeping her eyes on the road. When Danny remained silent after that, she added: "But that doesn't matter now. I think we have a pretty good chance of finding her. If your Samantha does a good job tonight, we may be able to reunite Laura and her family by morning time."

"Yeah, I think I'll keep my prejudices to myself next time", Danny mumbled.

Vivian smiled. "Maybe you should. – Oh, look here we are." Vivian parked the car, not surprised to see Jack was already there, waiting for them. They got out of and walked over towards their boss who greeted them with a look at his watch.

"What took you so long?"

"Jack, you do know there are speed limits, don't you?"

They were about to enter the building when Danny, who was walking behind the two older agents, cleared his throat as if to gain their attention. Vivian heard it very well, but chose to ignore it making Danny have to repeat the noise, this time even louder.

This Vivian turned around to face him. "Yes, Agent Taylor?"

"I just got a text message from Sam. Samantha, I mean. She says it's not official at her office that she and I are… uh… together, so… if you could please not mention it?"

They were both looking at him, and Vivian felt a little perverse joy watching him fidget uneasily. But it was mean, and she knew it. So she finally said: "Sure, we'll keep your secret…"

"It's not about _me_… I mean, since you already know … It's just that Sam…"

But Jack interrupted his young agent impatiently: "C'mon, Agent Taylor, get your ass in there so we can get on with our work. We don't have time for soap-operas…" But he couldn't help his voice sounding more amused than strict.

Not much after that the three agents found themselves in a small, very messy office. There was a huge desk that along with a few shelves almost completely filled the room. The shelves were stuffed with files and all sorts of books; Vivian detected even a collection of dictionaries which included Swedish! Averting her gaze from the books Viv decided to rather concentrate on their owner; a not too good-looking, but very sympathetic man who looked old enough to already be waiting for his retirement. He greeted the agents with a friendly smile and a hand-shake.

It felt good to be greeted like that, since the local Police wasn't always happy if the FBI got involved in their cases – it was the same in New York as in any other place.

Detective O'Reilly was different. "Please sit down" he offered the agents.

Vivian noticed there were only three chairs (there wouldn't have been enough room for more anyways), and after a while the detective noticed it, too. "Oh… um… I'm sorry. Guess, one of us has to remain standing…"

Jack and Viv took a seat, both watching curiously who was going to take the last chair. Danny looked at it, uncomfortably. Detective O'Reilly meanwhile had other problems. He looked at his watch – for the third time since they'd entered his office.

"Where the heck is Spade?" he mumbled to himself, then remembered he wasn't alone and started explaining: "The girl just drives me crazy. So young, yet excellent at her job. But always has to play the diva. Being late, letting people wait… And especially today, as we have the FBI involved…"

He was interrupted by the door being opened and a young woman rushing in. She was several inches taller than Vivian, slender, with brunette hair cut short and a face, that Viv would have described as simply good-looking (rather than pretty). There was something very determined about her whole attitude, that impressed even an experienced federal agent like Vivian, and looking over, she could see that Jack was impressed, too.

After closing the door Spade turned to face the agents, to introduce herself. But O'Reilly was quicker: "Oh there you are, finally. Spade, these are agents Malone, Johnson and uh…" He threw an apologetic look at Danny. "What was your name again?"

"Oh, um… we happen to know eachother already", Danny said ignoring the annoyed glance Samatha Spade shot him.

"Oh."

"Let's talk about tonight's actions", Spade quickly said.

There wasn't actually much to talk about. Each of them knew the usual procedure of the operation they were planning. Soon everything was set and O'Reilly left the room to inform his men. Spade was about to follow, when Danny held her back: "Sam…"

"Not now, Danny", she said shortly but gave him a reassuring smile.

"I just wanted to tell you to be careful tonight…"

Now she grinned, her eyes resting on him for a moment before travelling towards Jack who she eyed with open interest. "I think I'm gonna be in good hands tonight…" she said and then off she went, leaving a perplex Danny behind who was still staring at the door, mouth open, after it had shut behind her. Looking at Jack, Viv noticed he was also staring at the closed door before finally excusing himself to go to the men's room.

The door closed again, leaving Vivian and Danny alone in the small office.

None of then said a word until, still in a disbelieving tone, Danny asked: "Did… did she just hit on Jack?"

Vivian just shrugged, but had a hard time to bite back laughter. This situation was ridiculous. But Danny was right, it had seemed as though Spade had some interest in their boss.

Danny sank down into the chair next to Viv's taking her silence as a yes. "I don't believe it, it's my first day and she'd hitting on my boss…Could this become any more embarrassing?" He ran a hand over his face and suddenly Vivian felt sorry for him.

Viv was just about to answer something, when the door opened and Jack stuck his head in. "What are you still doing here? Get ready, we're gonna leave in five minutes!"


	10. Chapter 10

Here I am, back from my holidays… with another chapter!

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That evening Vivian found herself in a car parked across the street from the bar where the meeting between Spade and that FAGIN-guy was supposed to take place. She was sitting in the driver's seat, listening to everything Spade said via radio. Right now she was ordering some mineral water from the waiter.

Next to Vivian, Danny was fidgeting nervously in the passenger seat. Vivian shot him an angry glance and he returned it, even more angry, all respect he'd had for her, seemed forgotten.

"Jack shouldn't have taken you here", Vivian said after a while. "I think he should have sent you home to get some sleep." Instead, Agent Andy Banks was spending a few precious hours at home during that time.

"And how am I supposed to sleep when my girlfriend is in there?" Danny asked. His dark eyes were even darker with anger and worry; they seemed almost black. His features were tense and his hands kept fiddling his belt.

"Ok, that's not easy, I know. But I don't agree with you being here, it's not reasonable…"

"Tell me something, Agent Johnson, are you _always_ reasonable? Not that it would surprise me, but tell me, is it really the case? I mean, would you sit here and be all calm and reasonable, if it was your boyfriend or your husband…" he paused for a moment, his glance moving down, looking for something, maybe her hand, searching for a ring (which was hidden in her pocket), then moving back towards her face before he continued: "…probably rather husband… who was in there?"

"Yes", Viv said although she wasn't quite sure it was the truth. "However, I can understand why you're nervous and – by the way – your nervousness isn't what's disturbing me, I just think you don't have enough experience…"

"But how am I gonna get that if…"

But Vivian interrupted him, hissing an almost aggressive sounding "_shhh!_"

Something had happened inside the bar; the man they were looking for, had obviously arrived.

"Dina Trent?" That was the name Spade had been given to meet him. There was nothing conspicuous about his voice, not that Vivian had expected that. But over the years she'd learned how to focus on every detail, since anything could be important.

"Yes, um… sit down." Spade was good at acting. And Vivian had seen her earlier; she'd looked absolutely credible for the role she was playing; no longer too good-looking with a pair of unfashionable spectacles and a few spots added to her face as well along, with lots of cream to make her skin shiny and her hair look greasy. Finally she'd dressed up, and seemed to have become a different person.

Vivian had noticed that she'd avoided both, Danny and Jack, after she'd dressed up as Dina Trent. For some reason she didn't want the two men to see her like that.

The man Spade was supposed to meet, seemed hesitant. He hadn't answered to her invitation to sit down, and it was impossible to tell what he was doing, just from listening.

Vivian wasn't happy to be sitting in the car so she couldn't see what was going on.

A sudden movement beside her made her turn her head towards the young man in the passenger seat. Ok, she had to admit there was somebody who was even less happy to be placed outside in the car.

…………………………………

Jack wasn't as calm as he'd thought he would be. He was sitting at the round bar, drinking his second beer (non-alcoholic), obviously staring numbly into his glass, but seated perfectly to have a great view over almost the whole room. There were two cops inside the bar as well, sitting at a table in the far corner, talking to each other, while watching Spade as closely as Jack did.

Objectively Spade was relatively safe, there wasn't much possibility of anything happening to her, but still Jack was nervous. And worried about her. He'd be worried about any young woman, in this situation. Any woman that was in possible danger. But it wasn't the same with Samantha Spade. He was more worried than usually.

He hadn't known her for long, but somehow he liked her.

He was playing with his half-empty glass, pushing it around just to keep his hands busy, when suddenly there was a low noise, sounding like '_pling_', as his wedding ring made contact with it. He thought about his wife – Maria – for a moment, about his daughter – Hannah – and his second daughter, who was on the way. They hadn't agreed on a name for her yet. But Maria had made a nice suggestion last night: Kate. He liked it. _Kate_.

Realising, how much his thoughts were drifting away, Jack forced himself to focus on his work.

Spade wasn't alone at the table anymore.

The man with her looked pretty harmless; Mid-forties, tall, bold, glasses. He didn't seem the type who'd do anything to teenage girls, but then again, if dangerous men had written the words '_murderer_' or '_rapist_' across their forehead Jack wouldn't have a job.

"Here we go", he thought, as the conversation at the table started.


	11. Chapter 11

Vivian was sure she was going kill Danny, if he wouldn't sit still soon. But then again, she had to concentrate on what was said between Spade and that stranger; so murdering her new co-worker would have to wait. Oh, how she wished she was here with Andy!

Just that moment she heard the man say: "I… I thought, you said, you were… um… fat."

"Well, I feel like I am. Very often, even. I know so many women who look so much better than I do, and all of them are slimmer."

"Miss Trent, you godda be joking… you're skinny!"

Via radio Jack voice mixed into it: "Seems like he's no interest in slender women…"

Vivian could see Danny was a little relieved, but she was disappointed – this wasn't working out the way it was supposed to. She turned towards the younger agent and whispered: "Doesn't mean, he's not gonna try to harm her…"

"I know…"

"But if he doesn't, it's not good for the plan, you know. We'll only have a reason to arrest him if he tries to attack her."

"Miss Trent, I don't know how to help you." The man's voice again. "I mean, you contacted me, said you were fat, ugly, insecure… you wanted my help, but there's hardly anything I can do for you other than to advice you to go home, wash your hair, use some make-up and maybe try contact lenses…"

"This makes me wonder what he does to women and girls who aren't so slender", Vivian said into her radio.

"It scares me to just think about it", was Jack's answer. And then: "Oh, he's leaving. It didn't work out. He's walking towards the door, now." Jack described the man for Vivian and Danny and added: "I want you two to follow him, see, where he goes to. Maybe, we'll find out where he lives, and then I'll try to get warrant to search that place. Or he might lead you to his victims…"

"…if he hasn't already buried them somewhere in the woods", Vivian sighed, feeling sick at the thought.

"What about Sam?" Danny demanded to know.

Vivian was about to say something, but Jack was quicker. "I make sure she'll get home safely. You two concentrate on your job."

Vivan watched as Danny rolled his eyes, mumbling something that sounded like 'oh, great…'.

"What?" Obviously Jack had heard it too.

"Oh… uh… nothing", Danny hurried to reply.

"Ok, here he comes", Vivian said and to keep Jack informed she described everything that was happening. "He's walking towards his car… I think… yes, it's his car. He opens the door… wait, I think he driving down the road in south direction… oh no, he's turned. Danny and I will follow him now, We'll call you."

"Ok."

The followed the car, a rusty old black Ford, for a while. At first Vivian kept her concentration on the job, but as it seemed this would take a while she let her curiosity take over: "For how long have you known eachother?"

"Huh?" Danny seemed surprised.

"You and Spade. For how long have you known eachother?"

"Little over a year."

Vivian nodded. The Ford turned right into a smaller street. As they followed they were now directly behind their suspect's car; the Mercedes they Vivian had kept between her car and the Ford had gone straight ahead, where they'd turned right. Viv knew she'd have to be careful now and she slowed down to keep a big distance to the other vehicle.

But as she went slower so did the Ford, and Viv hit the breaks again. "Seems like we there…"

"So what're we gonna do?" Danny asked, eager.

Much to her displeasure Viv noticed he was getting edgy again. She wouldn't even be surprised he if he was ready to pull his gun. Hoping it was okay not making it worse she reached over without taking her eyes off the road and touched his arm. "Easy, we're not doing anything yet."

"So we're gonna sit here, watch him doing… well… things to that girls and…" He shrugged off her hand.

"Danny, he's sitting in his car. Doing nothing right now, just driving. When he stops, we'll see. Maybe, we'll approach him, talk to him. Or we'll follow him, he may lead us to possible victims; Jack will decide…"

"Possible victims? He's kidnapped Laura, and other girls, why can't we just arrest him, make him spill everything?"

Vivian shook her head, noticing that the car in front of them was speeding up again. "He didn't attack Spade. He was just talking to her that's not illegal. We got nothing on him."

"But Viv, we're the ones with the badge and the gun – surely we can do _something_…"

"Yes, and we're the ones who could end up losing their jobs so no. For the moment our hands are tied. I admit he seems suspicious though. But we'll have to wait until we know more. Grow up Danny, this isn't a James Bond movie. This is reality."

Danny suddenly grinned. "Well, I don't actually watch those movies… – And what does James Bond have to do with the FBI?"

"Well, it's the only kind of movie I'd associate with… agents – what does it matter anyway?"

Danny grin had become even bigger now. "It's ok I think I'm getting your point. – Oh, watch out, he's turning left."

They drove on for another five minutes in complete silence.

"How did you meet?"

"What, me and Sam?"

"Yeah. I mean you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Danny shrugged. "It's not a secret. We met at a friend's wedding, a guy I went to college with. He went to high school with her, and since I was just about to start at the FBI and he knew she wanted to do the same as well later he thought we'd get along and placed us next to eachother. Well, we both knew he was trying to pair us off, but what can I say – it worked."

"Seems so…"

They had left the city behind them by now, Viv suddenly realised. She was beginning to wonder. Where the hell were they going? Did the guy know he was being followed and was trying to confuse them? If so, he'd certainly achieved that.

They were driving through a little town, left the main road and where now on a different street that seemed to go straight to nowhere. On both sides of the roads were mostly trees, very few houses. Then there weren't any houses at all anymore just the woods. The Ford slowed down and came to halt… right in middle of nowhere…

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

Hey, everybody! Thanks a lot for reviewing! It really helps staying focused on the story!

I think this story is developing a life of its own… there's now a second storyline, I actually never planned… :-)

However, please keep reading (and reviewing) there's still a lot to come I promise! (Although due to story's own life I really can't say yet, _what_ will happen…I'll be as surprised as you are…)

Now enjoy!

……………

Still sitting at the bar, Jack was talking to Detective O'Reilly. Every now and then he couldn't help averting his gaze to stare over to where Samantha Spade was standing with the two cops who'd been in the bar with them. She didn't look happy.

"So, is this going to be your case now?" O'Reilly pulled Jack's attention back to him.

"Well, I'd say, we'd better keep working together on this. Our main interest is to find Laura McFadden, we'll leave to you to take care of this guy."

"So you're gonna keep me informed on what's happening with the two of your agents you sent after him?"

"Sure, I got your telephone number; I'll give you a call if something comes up", Jack nodded, watching as Spade finally turned to leave. "Excuse me." He got up from his seat and hurried after Spade, catching up with her just as she reached to door. "Hey…"

She turned around and smiled at him, still looking a little unhappy. "Hey."

"You know, it wasn't your fault."

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Yes, of course." He wanted to add something like 'it's not your fault you're too pretty to convince him…' to console her but could stop himself just in time. It would sound like flirting, and he wasn't going to flirt with his new agent's girlfriend!

"I guess, nobody could know it would happen like this…"

"No, of course not", Jack hurried to agree. And then, this time before he could stop himself it slipped: "You need a ride home?"

"Actually I need to go to the office", she answered, then seemed to think about it for a while. "Well, guess if it's on your way you could give me a ride there…"

"Sure." Trying to not smile to obviously and remain professional instead, Jack searched his pockets for his keys, found and them and led Spade to his car.

On the way Jack couldn't help asking: "So… you ever thought about joining the FBI?"

Now Spade grinned. "Yeah. Actually I have. And I still might… – By the way, how's Danny doing? It's his first day, isn't?"

"Yes, and he's been not too bad as far as I know. He's been with Agent Johnson most of the day so I don't know too much. But he's definitely come up with some good ideas…" Jack hesitated for a moment, then asked: "How come you don't seem sure if it's his first day?"

"Oh… um… well, things haven't been too well between us, lately", she admitted.

"Really? Something serious?"

"Yeah… maybe. We've just been going through some stuff and…" she paused for a few seconds and looked at Jack. "…actually, I don't think it would be appropriate to talk about this to his boss", she finally said. "His _new_ boss."

Jack sighed, nodding. "Guess you're right. Wouldn't be fair on him, either…" Silently he cursed himself. What the hell had he been thinking? He liked Danny Taylor, and still he was here, with his girlfriend, asking her about their relationship, which was indeed _none_ of his business. So he decided for a slight change of subject: "Anyway, Danny seems to be a nice person to me; I remember the first time we met. I knew at once, I wanted that guy on my team, the moment he came walking in and told me outright he wanted that job."

Spade let out a small giggle. "Yeah, he can be very direct and adamant sometimes. But he does have his moments of insecurity as well." Shaking her head she remarked: "And again I'm telling you things about I him I shouldn't tell you. We shouldn't talk about Danny, Agent Malone; I may end up telling you something real bad making you decide that he's not the right one for the job."

Jack laughed. "There can't be anything _that_ bad, you could tell me, can there? You're right, though, but it doesn't make any difference anyways because we're there already."

He parked the car and watched as Spade got ready to leave. "It was nice to work with you, Miss Spade." He started searching his coat pocket for his business card. "Should you ever decide to join the bureau, give me a call."

Grinning, Spade took the card he handed her and put it in her pocket. "I will. Thank you. Good night, Agent Malone."

Jack watched her walk into the building, shook his head and made to get back to the FBI head quarters, still thinking about what she'd said: _something real bad making you decide that he's not the right one for the job._ What did she mean by that? Or had she just said that?


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry it took me so long to update… but here we go:

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„What are we going to do?" Danny asked looking over at Vivian.

For the first time this evening, Vivian was getting nervous, too. She hadn't expected the man to stop here in the middle of nowhere. Her plan had been to follow him to his house, see, if she and Danny could find anything suspicious around the place that could help them get a search warrant or maybe ring the doorbell and speak to the man.

But there was no sign of a house at all. Maybe he had found another hiding-place for the girls – somewhere in the middle of the forest – but there was no way to find out because if she stopped here now, he was bound to notice them, and there would probably be no chance he was going to lead them to his hiding place voluntarily.

There also wasn't enough time to call Jack because once the man had vanished into the woods there would be no chance for her and Danny to find him again and keep him from removing his victims.

Vivian sighed, it was all up to her now – and she was sitting in the car with a nervous rookie! _Damn Jack_, she thought but then something came to her mind.

It was dark, and Vivian had an idea. She looked at Danny. "Can I rely on you not doing anything stupid?" she asked.

Danny looked back at her, confused.

Vivian motioned towards the car in front of them; it was parked on the left side of the road and the lights had just gone out. Quickly she explained her plan: "I need you to get out of the car and follow the man into the woods while I'm going to drive on."

"What?"

"He needs to think it's save to go to wherever he's got his hiding-place. So you have to get out of the car quickly and not be seen! Follow him and inform me once you know where he's going."

"Sure I can do that", Danny said. He sounded confident, but it wasn't making Vivian feel better.

Nonetheless she nodded, stopping the car so Danny could get out. "And don't do anything, just _follow_ him! I'm going to call Jack, once I'm in a safe distance."

Danny opened the passenger door and slipped out of the car quickly. Still the man in the other car hadn't gotten out and Vivian guessed he was waiting for her to drive past. She could only hope he hadn't seen Danny but there wasn't much she could do other than drive on. When she looked into the outside mirror she could only see darkness and she turned around to look through the back window. No sign of Danny.

Good. So far.

She could only hope he was up for the task.

When she had driven past the other car she looked into the mirror again to see if anything had happened. In the darkness she could only guess, but it looked as if the other car's door was being opened.

Vivian felt her heartbeat speed up, nervousness creeping into her, mercilessly. She hoped she had done the right thing or otherwise – she and Danny would probably be in trouble. Big trouble.

As soon as she had reached the next turn so she wouldn't be seen by their suspect anymore she slowed down the car and parked it at the side of the road. Then she reached for her cell phone and dialled the number, quickly.

"Malone."

"Jack, it's Viv. Listen, I think we might need some backup here."

"Where are you?"

Vivian told Jack everything he needed to know and when she was done, after hesitating for a moment she added: "Jack, I'm worried…"

"Worried?"

"That Danny might do something stupid. He was kinda edgy earlier, and although I told him…"

"Trust him, Viv. He'll do the right thing. And I'll send you some backup. Just keep me posted on what's going on."

"I will." Jack had already hung up when she added a whispered: "I hope you're right…"

Now there was nothing more she could do than wait. Vivian hated waiting anyways, but this time it was hell. She kept looking at her watch, waiting for Danny to report. Ten minutes had passed since he'd got out of the car, and Vivian felt like it had been an hour.

Twenty minutes and still nothing.

After half an hour finally her radio made a crackling noise then she heard Danny's voice, causing her to breathe a sigh of relief: "Vivian?"

"Where are you?"

"I don't know exactly. The son of a bitch must have known he was being followed. He led me a long way round the forest and finally I thought I lost him."

"What d'you mean you _thought_ you lost him?"

"I think I found the place where he was going to; there's a house here – and it's not even small. He must keep the girls here. I guess he really knew we were following him and so he park the car on the road and took the way through the woods but there's got a driveway here, too – so probably you could also come here by car.

"Yes, I guess that was inevitable he noticed us", Vivian admitted. "Listen, I called Jack and he's sending us a few men for backup. And I'll call him again and hopefully he can get us a search warrant for that place – and find out where exactly it is… But I want you to stay where you are and do nothing until we're there."

"But…"

"No buts, Danny, we have to be careful, now, very careful. Just stay where you are and inform me, if something happens. Understood?"

There was no answer, and Vivian felt nervous again. "Danny? Did you understand me?"

Still no answer. Exasperated, Vivian almost shouted into the radio: "Danny? Do you hear me? Damn it, Danny, answer me!"

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

Inside the house the light had been switched off. With his eyes long having adjusted to the darkness Danny could see the door being opened. He watched as a figure walked out and closed the door again, afterwards. Judging from the shape of the silhouette Danny was sure it was their guy.

The man walked down the stairs that led up to the door and made his way back to the woods, almost coming straight towards Danny. Cursing silently, the young agent tried his best to retire deeper into the forest without being noticed. He wasn't scared for himself, but was afraid that if he got caught by the man it would make the situation worse for the girls that were probably still in the house.

Danny did, of course, hear Vivian Johnson's voice calling out his name, almost frantically now, but he knew that if he answered he would be heard. He had put his radio into the pocket of his jacket hoping its fabric would stifle sounds coming from it and keep him undetected.

He made another step backward – and heard the noise of a branch cracking underneath his foot. In shock, Danny froze. The noise had seemed terrifyingly loud in the silence of the nightly forest.

And the other man must have heard it, too – he had stopped and was now standing a few metres away from the house, obviously listening and scanning the area.

Cursing himself Danny barely dared to breathe. After a moment – that felt forever to Danny – the man finally moved on. He walked back towards the forest. There wasn't a fence or anything to separate the premises from the woods around them and soon the man had disappeared from Danny's view, leaving the agent wondering what to do.

After waiting for a while until he was sure he was alone and the other man wasn't around anymore Danny reached for his radio. "Vivian?"

There was an answer at once: "Danny! Where are you? Why the hell haven't you answered? I've been…"

"I know. I couldn't answer. Listen, I think he's coming back to get his car. You should be prepared to follow him – in case he is going somewhere else…"

"Are you still by the house?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Stay there. Don't move. I'm going to call Jack again, see how he's doing with the search warrant."

Danny was about to answer when he heard a noise similar to the one he had made when he had stepped on the branch. Turning around he found himself looking into the barrel of a gun pointed at his head. He moved his gaze up to find a pair of dark eyes staring at him through frameless glasses.

"Well, what do we have here…? An unwanted visitor", the man said, gun still pointed at Danny. He was standing a few steps away so there was no chance for the agent to overpower him without risking to be shot before even getting close enough.

"Who are you?" the guy demanded to know.

Danny hesitated for a moment. He could hear Vivian's voice through the radio but coming out of his pocket again it was hardly more than a stifled murmur. Finally he decided to tell the man the truth: "My name is Danny Taylor, I'm with the FBI and if I were you I would hand the gun over because this place will be swarmed with agents in a couple of minutes." Well almost the truth; a little bluff couldn't harm...

"Or…" the man said. "… I'll shoot you now and nobody will know."

"You can't do that." Danny tried to keep his voice firm, but it was difficult. Now he did feel afraid but he was determined not to let his opponent know.

"I can, but I won't. I know you have bluffed saying the place will be swarmed but I'm pretty sure you aren't alone. I have noticed you guys following me all the time and I think you're going to be the best insurance for my safe escape. Come on, get going."

"Where?"

Using his head to motion towards the house the man said: "Inside. Got to make sure we're prepared when your people arrive. Oh – and hand over your gun and the radio, please – we won't want to take any risks, right?"

Danny didn't have any other chance than to do as he had been told. He felt like a total failure. How could he let the man catch him? Maybe he wasn't as smart as he had thought?

He could only hope that Vivian had been able to overhear everything and knew what was to do…

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

The voice that came out of the radio wasn't Danny's but it didn't surprise Vivian. She had expected this.

It was a man's voice, and she had heard it before, that evening: "Who am I speaking to?"

"This is Special Agent Vivian Johnson. Where's my partner – is he alive?"

"Of course he is. Wouldn't be much help to me if he was dead, would he?" the man asked. "But that just gets me straight to the point: he will be dead, as soon as I see one more of you guys sniffing around here. Understood?"

"Let me speak to him", Vivian demanded.

"Okay, fine… just a moment…"

"Viv-" Danny's voice, but he was already interrupted again:

"That's enough. – See? He's alive. And now make sure you inform your colleagues."

"What about your other hostages?" Vivian asked.

"What other hostages?"

"The girls?"

There was no answer. What did that mean? Viv was confused, and suddenly very frightened. What if he had killed the girls? Or maybe he had nothing to do with the disappearance of Laura McFadden and the others? _No_ – Vivian shook her head, although nobody was there to see it – _that was unlikely_.

But what the hell did he plan? Would he just stay in the house, keep Danny there with him and hope they would give up at some point? Realising that it was probably easy for him to escape in the darkness of the woods, Vivian became even more scared.

But then again – if it was so easy – what did he need Danny for? Why hadn't he just disappeared?

All the thinking made her so tense she jumped when her phone rang. After getting her breathing under control she answered: "Johnson?"

"Viv, it's me. I've got some news; first, we now know who this man is and where exactly to find the house. His name is Gregory Donald, but we haven't got anything on him so far. That's the bad news – we haven't got enough for a search warrant."

"We may have now", Vivian said, cursing herself for not having informed Jack, yet.

"What happened?"

"Danny followed him, but he got caught. Donald or whatever his name is has taken Danny hostage."

There was silence on the other end. Finally, in a hesitant voice, Jack asked: "What does he want?"

"So far he just said he wants us to leave him alone. But my guess is he wants to escape."

Jack hesitated, then he said in a shaky voice: "But why hasn't he escaped?"

Vivian thought for a while. "I've been asking myself the same. Um… maybe he thinks there are more of us around and he was scared to run into one of us… I don't know."

"Okay, hang on. We'll be with you as soon as we can."

"Jack?"

"Yes?"

"We need to get Danny out of there…"

"I know. We will." He hung up.

………………

Jack knew he would need as many people as he could get for this. Of course, considering the time, it wasn't easy. And to tell the truth, Jack was unsure what they were going to do. This was like no situation he could think of ever having been in.

After he had gathered together a team of agents he quickly informed them on the situation. It was about the time they all left when Andy Banks arrived. Jack had called him, earlier.

Looking tired, Andy approached Jack. He half-heartedly stifled a yawn and then he asked: "What's this about? You weren't very talkative on the phone."

"Situation's out of control." Walking to the car park, Jack started filling Andy in. "C'mon, we need to get there now. You're riding in the car with me."

"So… the kid has his first day and he's taken hostage… ouch", Andy commented, as he opened the door of Jack's car and slipped in.

As they drove through the city, Jack felt guilty. Maybe he should have listened to Vivian earlier. Danny was young, inexperienced… he probably wasn't up for this – maybe he hadn't been up for the whole operation in the first place. Now it was probably his – Jack's – fault, if Danny didn't get out of this alive.

"Don't do that", Andy suddenly said, pulling Jack back from his miserable thoughts.

"Do what?"

"Blame yourself. It won't help. And – by the way – I think the kid's clever. He'll make it out of this."

"I don't know…" Jack mumbled.

"Yes, you do. You trusted him earlier, remember? Why not trust him now?"

Jack shrugged, mentally pulling himself together as he put his foot down, sending the car speeding through the night.

………………

It was dark in the house. Danny couldn't see a thing at first, but he could sense the gun, pointed at his head, even though it wasn't making contact.

The man switched on the light, and Danny had to close his eyes for a second, surprised by the sudden brightness. Once he had opened them again he took a look around. He was in a big room that could have once been a comfortable living room but now the furniture was looking rotten and everything was filthy.

The room was cold although it was a warm summer night and there was a radiator under the window.

Motioning to the radiator the man said: "Over there!"

"What?" Danny asked and didn't move.

"The radiator. Cuff yourself to the radiator and hand me the keys."

With the gun pointed at his forehead Danny quickly realised he didn't have any other choice than to do as he was told. He pulled out his handcuffs and felt extremely miserable as he cuffed himself to the old radiator. He threw the keys towards the waiting man.

The man grinned. "There – that's much better! Be back soon." He walked out of the room, giving Danny a chance to scan his surroundings again, closely. A couch, a small coffee table and a wooden rocker, that was about all the furniture there was in the room. Danny looked up at the window above him; it was almost impossible to look out due to the dirt on the glass but it would be a good way to escape quickly. If only Danny could get free from the hand-cuffs.

"Made yourself comfortable?"

Dance winced at the voice. He had been so deep in thought he hadn't realised the man had returned.

What was he going to do? Of course – he had to get the man to free him – but how? After thinking Danny finally asked: "Where are the girls?"

"The girls? What girls?"

"They came to you for help. You abducted them."

"I did no such thing. Although you're right – they came to me asking for help. See, I _helped_ them." He absently stared into space, a small smile on his face.

"How?" Danny asked feeling his inside churn with anxiety. He had a bad feeling about this.

"I took them to a better place." His gaze became focused again and he stared at the young agent. "They're safe, now."

"You killed them, right?" Danny managed to keep his voice firm although he suddenly felt sick.

A pair of angry eyes was fixed on him. "I said I took them to a better place." The man sighed. "But I never expected you to understand what I'm doing. That's what I _need_ you for – or otherwise I'll be locked up by your people – and that means I wouldn't be able to help those girls anymore."

Feeling like he was going to throw up Danny swallowed before asking: "So… what is your plan? You won't get out of here."

"Who says I want to? I just don't want anybody to come _in_ here."

"But… we can't stay here forever."

The man looked confused now. It seemed to Danny as if he hadn't thought about what he was going to do. He hadn't planned his flight. And that scared the young agent more than anything. The man was unpredictable – who could say when he would change his mind and decide he didn't need Danny anymore?

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

Vivian jumped out of the car as soon as Jack arrived. She walked quickly towards her boss. "I just wanted to call you", she said then she noticed Andy Banks standing behind Jack.

"Have we heard anything from the guy?"

Vivian shook her head. "No, not since the last time we spoke. And I didn't want to contact him unless Jack said so. What are we gonna do, Jack?" She turned her attention to her boss again.

Jack furrowed his brow. "He has Danny's radio, right? So we can talk to him."

"Yes." Vivian handed Jack her radio and he spoke into it: "Mr Donald, this is Special Agent Jack Malone. Mr Donald, can you hear me?"

………………

The radio was lying on the table and Danny immediately tensed up at the sound of Jack's voice. He looked at the man, sitting on the filthy sofa, and said: "You gotta answer that."

"No."

"Mr…? What is your name? I couldn't quite hear."

"What?"

"Your name", Danny repeated. "I want to know your name." He cursed himself. Why hadn't he asked before? For over ten minutes he had just sat there by the window, frozen and silent, but hearing Jack's voice had brought him back to his senses.

"Can't tell you."

"Why – my people have found it out by now, anyway", Danny said but there was no answer. "Look, I think I need to call you something…"

"Call me Greg", the man said in a raised voice. He got up from the couch and walked over to where Danny was but made sure he kept a certain distance between himself and the FBI Agent. Looking down at the young man he suddenly spat: "But I don't want to talk to you, anyway. Or to them." He motioned towards the radio.

"You need to", Danny tried to insist. "Or they'll come in here."

"They won't."

"Sooner or later they'll find a way."

Again there was no answer.

Greg went back to the couch and sat down again. Danny watched him, thinking frantically but was interrupted when he heard Jack's voice again. "Mr Donald. I need to speak with you."

Knowing that it was useless to try and make the man answer Danny still tried. "Speak to them. We'll have to end this. You can't remain in here forever."

"Don't you think I know that?" Greg raised his voice again. "I just haven't figured out what to do, yet. So shut the hell up!"

But Danny had no intention of doing so. "Is this where you live, Greg?" he asked, his fear not quite forgotten, but with more confidence now. "Or do you just keep the girls in here?"

Silence.

"You know what?" Danny continued. "I don't think you live here. This place is so dirty no one could live here."

"This is my house."

"Yes, but I guess you live in the city. I guess, you're just taking the girls out here to…" he stopped, unable to go on.

Greg remained silent.

"Where are they, Greg?"

No answer.

"The girls, Greg, where are they?"

"Shut up!" Greg rose from the couch again and came closer. This gave Danny an idea. If only he could get the guy to come close enough… Danny's left hand was still cuffed to the radiator but his right hand was free. If only he could get Greg to come close enough so he could grab him. The man was unarmed right know and Danny had seen him put the keys for the hand-cuffs into his pocket earlier. And that had been stupid of him! All Danny would have to do was to provoke him so he would lose control and wouldn't think clearly so he would come close and give the agent a chance to overpower him.

"You can't tell me there aren't here? I'm pretty sure my people will find them in the cellar when they come in here. Probably dead."

"Stop…"

"Because I think you murdered them…"

"Shut the hell up." With two quick steps Greg came close enough to slap Danny hard across the face.

It hurt but still Danny reacted quickly. He grabbed the other man's arm and pulled him down. It wasn't difficult since slapping him had unbalanced him for a moment – and in addition to that Danny had the advantage of surprise. Greg crashed into the radiator with such a force he lost his glasses in the process and that gave another advantage to Danny and he kicked the glasses away.

But Greg wasn't going to give in. He was slightly dazed after the collision and he tried to crawl away – out of Danny's reach.

But Danny managed to grab him by his shirt and pulled him back. They struggled for what seemed like five minutes but couldn't have been more than one minute and eventually Danny managed to knock the other man unconscious. He reached for the keys and freed himself. His left wrist hurt and he moved his hand, trying to regain sensation in it.

When he got up from the ground he felt dizzy for a moment and he reached for the radiator to steady himself.

………………

Jack paced up and down the street, cursing quietly every now and then or barking an order at somebody. Agents had surrounded the house but so far Jack hadn't given them the green light to try and storm it. He was still waiting for Donald to reply.

"It's no use", he finally said to Vivian. "He won't negotiate. We will have to go in."

"Jack, we can't. He said he would kill Danny." Vivian seemed totally calm and Jack had often asked himself how she did it. No matter how bad the situation seemed she almost never lost her composure – it was one of the reasons Jack appreciated having her on the team. Of course he knew that she wasn't really as unaffected as she seemed.

"I don't think he will kill him. He probably just…"

"What? Bluffed? I don't think so. I really don't."

Jack groaned. "But what the hell are we going to do then?"

"I don't know but I tell you one thing – if you go in there I won't be behind you."

Surprised, Jack looked at Vivian. This was very unlike her. Maybe the situation was affecting her more than he had thought. But Jack would do what he had to do and he was about to give the order to storm the house when he heard the radio crackle and then… Danny's voice: "Vivian?"

Forgetting that they weren't on first-name terms – since Jack hadn't offered that to Danny, yet – Jack almost shouted back: "Danny? Are you alright?"

TBC

Author's notes: So… I'm nice and I've freed Danny from his uncomfortable position quite quickly, haven't I? Although I have to admit I kinda like the idea of having Danny cuffed to something… like naked to my bed, for example; that would be okay… ;-)

Now… d'you think that's perverted…?


	17. Chapter 17

The house had reminded Danny of a horror movie earlier, but now the lights were on in every room and agents, police officers and people from forensics were busily doing their work.

Jack was with Gregory Donald trying to get the man to talk, meanwhile Danny and Vivian and another agent he didn't know were descending the stairs into the cellar.

The first thing Danny had done after he had freed himself and cuffed the unconscious man had been to contact Vivian Johnson via the radio and he had been surprised to hear Jack Malone's voice answering him. Nonetheless Danny had quickly informed his new boss of the change in situation and it had not taken long for Jack and Vivian had arrived.

He had felt better seeing them – and the bunch of people they had brought with them – but as he went further and further down into the cellar his stomach was beginning to feel queasy again.

"Do you think we'll find them here?" he finally dared to ask Vivian.

Without looking at him she answered. "Well, maybe he kept them in here somewhere. We won't know until we've searched the cellar. But let's face it – the girls are most likely dead."

"Oh", was all Danny managed to say.

This made Vivian stop and turn around to look at him, compassion showing on her face. "I'm sorry, Danny. I wish, your first case could have been… well, let's not think the worst before we know for sure, okay?"

"Okay", Danny mumbled and slipped past her. He made it to the bottom of the stairs first and was about to open the door at their foot when he heard Vivian say:  
"Even if we don't find them alive, you need to know it's not your fault, okay? You did well today…"

"Okay", Danny replied, automatically. It didn't make him feel any better but he didn't want Vivian to worry about him. He was an adult; he should be able to handle this.

………………

The door at the foot of the stairwell lead into a big junk room that reminded Vivian of the one she had at home – only this one was filthier. There was a thick layer of dust everywhere, on the floor footprints were visible, showing that somebody had walked across it recently. There was another door at the other end.

And the footprints leading towards it had different sizes! From the look on his face Vivian could tell that Danny had noticed it, too. He seemed very nervous, suddenly.

Vivian was almost sure that Laura McFadden – the girl they were looking for – was or at least had been in this room. Looking closely, she noticed that the smaller tracks only seemed to go in but not out – which meant that Laura – if she had come in here – would have to be still there.

Quickening her pace Vivian crossed the room. Danny stayed close behind her. In the silence of the room she could hear him breathing heavily.

Vivian reached for the door handle. The door was locked but the key was pinned to the wall with a rusty old nail right next to it. When she unlocked the door and opened it Vivian had to take a deep breath herself, trying to stifle the fear of what she was going to see.

The door led into another, much smaller room, and there in the corner, staring at Viv with frightened eyes, was the girl they were looking for, Laura McFadden.

Vivian was by her side in no time, trying to calm her with her words as she explained: "Hey, it's okay. I'm with the FBI, my name is Vivian Johnson. We're going to get you out of here…"

But Laura didn't seem to understand her words. It wasn't a surprise to Vivian. The girl seemed numb after what she had gone through, and maybe she didn't believe, that it was over yet.

Vivian turned around and pointed at Danny. "Laura, this is Danny. We are going to take you upstairs now. You don't have to be afraid anymore, okay?"

………………

Vivian watched as Special Agent Olivia Hart led the scared girl away to the car. She would take her to the office. Laura's family had been informed, too.

The girl hadn't said a word since they had found her and Vivian wondered if she knew anything about the other girls that were probably victims of this man. They had asked her but there had been no answer; just those fearful eyes.

Jack had already given orders to search the house and every inch of the forest surrounding it.

Vivian saw her boss coming towards her and Danny, who was standing behind her, leaning against the wall. She greeted her boss with a tired half-smile. "Hey."

"Hey. Well done, you two", said Jack nodding approvingly at them. But then he frowned as his eyes rested on Danny. "You okay?"

Viv turned around to see that the younger agent was suddenly very pale. "I don't know", he mumbled. "Everything's spinning and…" He reached out, trying to grab the arm Jack offered him, before sliding down against the wall he had been leaning on.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

Vivian and Jack knelt down beside Danny. For a moment Viv thought he had passed out but he was conscious and sitting upright, propped up against the wall, his head leaning back. Maybe he had just needed to sit. The day must have taken a toll on him. And he had said something about a struggle he had had with Donald earlier. Maybe he had got hurt in that.

"Better?" Vivian asked after a while when she saw some colour return to his face.

Danny just nodded and moved a hand to the back of head. When he pulled it back there was something sticking to it, something dark red, that reminded Vivian of… blood.

It _was_ blood, although it had pretty much dried by now.

"I bumped my head on the radiator", Danny finally said, staring at his hand. "I just didn't notice I hit it so hard."

Vivian smiled. "I would have seen that you were hurt if you weren't so damn tall", she said.

Danny smiled back but after a moment he turned his head. As soon as he wasn't looking anymore Vivian's smile disappeared. She felt guilty for not noticing anything – and from the look on Jack's face she could see that he was, too.

"What's _she_ doing here?"

Danny's question had interrupted her thoughts, and Vivian watched a frown spreading over his face. She sighed and turned to look at whatever had caught Danny's attention…

… just at the right moment to see Samantha Spade entering the house through the front door. She quickly looked around until her eyes rested on Danny. Only seconds later she was kneeling down next to Vivian.

"Oh God – Danny are you okay?" she asked, a worried expression on her face. When she noticed Jack on Danny's other side she shot him a glance – and a smile. "Thank you for calling me, Sir." Then she turned her attention to Danny again, reaching out to run her hand over his cheek, gently.

But Danny pushed her arm away. "Not now, Sam." Carefully, he rose from his seated position and soon he was standing, still holding on to the wall for support. Vivian noticed he was still swaying slightly and she touched his arm to get his attention.

"C'mon, let's go", she said. "We need to get you to the hospital so you can get checked out."

She could see that he was about to protest but Spade was quicker: "She's right Danny. You're really not looking well." It was only then she noticed the blood on his fingers and her expression after that very made it very clear that she was not up for an argument.

Still Danny tried once more: "But…"

"Don't even try. You will go to the hospital and I'll go with you."

"I'll take you two there", Vivian offered. "Unless…" she looked at Spade, "you got a car."

Spade shook her head. "No, I came with Detective O'Reilly. That reminds me… he said he wanted to speak to you." The last sentence had been directed at Jack, who nodded.

"Yeah, okay. Where can I find him?"

"He's outside talking to another police officer."

With a questioning look at Vivian – _can I leave it all to you?_ – Jack got up.

Motioning for him to go Vivian said: "You go ahead and we'll go to the hospital. I'll drive you two home afterwards." She didn't know why but for some reason she was happy to have an excuse to accompany Danny to the hospital although Spade didn't look too happy about it.

……………

It was long after midnight when Vivian found herself sat on an uncomfortable chair in the hospital corridor opposite the room in which Danny was being treated by a tired but still pretty looking, female doctor. Next to Viv sat Samantha Spade, fidgeting uneasily in her seat as they waited for Danny to come out.

"It's taking quite a long time, isn't it?" Spade finally complained. "What's she doing with him?"

"He's hurt. She has to examine him."

Spade snorted loudly. "Yeah – I bet she has to."

"Oh c'mon you're not jealous, are you?" Thinking about the previous day and the way Spade had almost _flirted_ with Jack – she had no right to be jealous now, in Vivian's opinion.

Instead of answering Spade just glared at her.

There was a moment of silence until Vivian finally dared to say what she had been thinking ever since they had driven to the hospital. "I don't think you're fair to him."

"What?"

"Danny. I don't think you love him. You should break it off."

Spade was speechless for a moment but then she replied angrily: "I don't think that's any of your business."

Vivian shrugged. "I'm just giving you my opinion."

"I didn't ask for it."

"I know."

Another moment of silence.

Finally Spade sighed and mumbled: "I care for him. I really do."

"I don't doubt that. But you care for him just as a friend, right?"

The look on the other woman's face told Vivian everything she needed to know.

"If you care for him, break it off. The longer you wait the more hurtful it'll get."

Quietly, Spade nodded, just as the door opened and Danny came back out. He gave the two women a smile and turned to the doctor once more to thank her. He was still a bit pale and looked tired, but other than that he seemed okay now.

Looking forward to crawling into bed, Vivian drove the two of them home and then headed back to her own place to get some well deserved sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

_Two days later_

When Jack arrived at the office at half past seven he was surprised to find Danny Taylor already there, sitting at the conference table. It was his first day back after suffering a head-injury during his first case, two days earlier.

Danny didn't notice his boss approaching him as he was absorbed in reading the morning paper.

"Good morning", Jack said, making Danny jump. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you…"

Giving him a lop-sided grin Danny replied. "No problem, Sir. Have you been here long?"

"No, I just arrived. And drop the _Sir_, I'm Jack." Trying to get a look at the page Danny was reading Jack asked: "Anything interesting?"

"I was looking for an article on our case."

"I wouldn't do that. It's over, and you have to learn to let it go."

Danny just nodded but he noticed that Jack's eyes were still resting on him and he put the paper away. "Any news about the other girls, yet?"

Jack sighed. He had expected the question and although he didn't feel comfortable with it he knew he would have to tell Danny: "Yes, their bodies were found in the woods. Not far from the house. Apparently, Donald killed them when he was fed up with them."

For a moment Danny looked as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing then, as what Jack was telling him sank in, he looked sick to his stomach. He lowered his head staring at his hands, then he looked up at Jack, his composure regained. "What the hell could have happened for them to be taken in by that… pervert?"

Jack shrugged. He didn't know what to tell Danny. There were things he would never understand himself. One of them was the teenage girls' naivety. "Maybe, they were just desperate for love. And Donald promised to help them get what they wanted. Remember what we found out about Laura; she was in love with a boy from her class who liked to make fun of her. Her mother didn't understand her feelings… her best friend had just got together with her first boyfriend. And Laura felt left out. – I don't know what made her trust the man, though. – But some things will always remain a mystery. Get used to that."

"Yes, I think I'll have to do that."

Suddenly the young man looked very tired and Jack began to wonder if he had slept at all since the night they had found Laura McFadden in Gregory Donald's house. "Are you okay?" he asked, sympathetically.

"I will be."

"The head?"

"Fine."

"Good." Jack turned to go but then, remembering his conversation with Samantha Spade two nights ago, he stopped. Looking around he noticed that the office was pretty much empty. It was still early and nobody was around to overhear their conversation. "Danny, there's something… I need to ask you."

Looking up at his boss Danny raised his eyebrows, curiously. "What?"

"Look, it might have meant nothing… but… When I talked to Spade the other night, we somehow… well, we talked about you." Jack paused, unsure how to handle this. "Remember when you came for the interview and I asked you if you thought you were the right one for this demanding job?"

Looking less confident now Danny knitted his brows. "Yeah… I do. Why?"

"Because I'm wondering if you might have kept something from me. Something I should know. Maybe something that could have made me think that you are not the right one?"

The expression on Danny's face expression was almost ashamed, showing Jack that he was on the right track.

He continued in a serious tone: "You need to tell me. As long as it can affect your work you have to tell me."

"You'll fire me."

"I won't."

But Danny looked doubtful.

Jack sighed. "Look, I need to know that I can rely on you. And if there's any sign that there's something wrong with you I need to be able to figure out what. I won't fire you now, because you've shown me you're capable of doing this. But I have to know I can trust you, and you have to trust me."

When Danny still didn't seem convinced Jack sighed again. "Okay, let's say you had a drinking problem…"

"I did."

The answer surprised Jack and he stared at the younger man for a moment, speechless.

Danny continued quickly. "It's under control; I've been sober for over a year, and I will stay sober. I just thought that…"

"… you wouldn't have got the chance if you had told me right away?"

"Yes."

After thinking for a moment Jack admitted: "You're right. But I've made the decision to hire you now. I think it was a good decision, and I won't go back on it." He turned to go again but stopped once more to add: "I hope you're going to prove me right."

"I will." Danny said, unable to suppress a relieved smile.

Jack walked back to his office, happy with the outcome of his conversation with Danny; he saw Vivian walking towards him.

"Morning!" She was in a good mood.

Jack smiled. "Morning."

"Danny back today?"

"Yes", Jack said and grinned. "Where does the sudden interest come from? Two days ago you pulled a face every time his name was mentioned."

Viv shrugged. "He's good, Jack. Better than I thought."

Jack laughed and gave her his best _who's-been-right?-_look. Vivian ignored it and walked past him.

"Viv?"

She sighed. "Yeah?"

"Can you do me a favour?"

"What?"

"Keep an eye on him today, will ya?"

"Oh no. No more babysitting", Vivian said, shaking her head and looking very unhappy.

Jack just grinned, broadly.

The End

**Author's notes:** Yeah, I finally finished it!

(Only took me about half a year… ;-)

But this story wasn't easy to write, especially since after a few chapters it seemed to develop a will of it's own and I couldn't seem to make the story go the way I wanted it to.

However, according to all the kind reviews I've received you must have liked it, and it's always nice to know that!

So leave another review on the whole story now and you'll make me very happy!

If you noticed an improvement in my English – that's all thanks to Marialisa who has kindly taken the time to correct all the mistakes I used to make! So thanks again for that, Maria!


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